Proceedings of the Ninth Triennial Conference of the European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music, 17-22 August 2015, Manchester, UK Ginsborg, J., Lamont, A., Phillips, M., Bramley, S. (Editors) Asymmetrical meter in Scandinavian folk music and dance: A case study of Norwegian Telespringar Mari Romarheim Haugen Department of Musicology, University of Oslo, Norway m.r.haugen@imv.uio.no ABSTRACT Certain traditional Norwegian and Swedish dance tunes in triple meter are referred to as being in so-called asymmetrical meter—that is, the three beats in the measure are of uneven duration. Norwegian telespringar is recognized for a type of asymmetrical meter featuring a systematic long–medium–short duration pattern at beat level. These systematic microtiming patterns are often described in terms of deviations from an underlying isochronous pulse. However, it has been argued that performers’ body motion may offer a more perceptually relevant structure of reference than an abstract fixed clock pulse. This study investigates whether the asymmetrical beat patterns previously shown in telespringar music are also represented in the body motion of performers who are playing and dancing. It is reported from two motion capture studies: first, a fiddler playing telespringar on a traditional Hardanger fiddle; second, a couple dancing telespringar. Motion analysis of the fiddler’s foot stamping indicates a very regular long–medium–short beat pattern. In addition, the fiddler’s upper-body swaying and the vertical motion of the body’s center of gravity in telespringar dancing are in synchrony with the bar level of the music. The fiddler’s foot stamping confirm the long–medium–short beat duration hypothesis and support the view that the systematic microtiming features in telespringar are not a matter of deviation from an underlying isochronous pulse. Instead, they actually constitute an essential feature of telespringar. I. INTRODUCTION The pulse level in music is considered a fundamental temporal structure for rhythm perception (Parncutt, 1994; Danielsen, 2010; London, 2012). Although the underlying pulse can be represented by actual sonic events in the music, it can also exist without the sound, which is the case with, for example, syncopation or a rests in the music, (Snyder, 2001; Sethares, 2007; Honing, 2013). The internal counterpart to this pulse in performers and perceivers, the internal beat, is often described as the level of musical rhythm that we nod our head or tap our feet to (Su and Pöppel, 2012). This underlying pulse is often assumed to consist of isochronous beats. Systematic microtiming features are often conceptualized as deviations from a pulse of isochronous beats. However, it has been pointed out that in many music styles the underlying pulse seems to consist of non-isochronous beats, meaning that systematic microtiming may not be perceived as deviations from underlying isochronous beats, but actually represent the pulse reference of the music (Hopkins, 1966; Kvifte, 2004; Polak, 2010). This seems to be the case with a considerable part of traditional folk music and dance of Sweden and Norway often referred to as being in so-called asymmetrical meter – that is, music in triple meter, where the three beats in a measure are of different duration (see e.g., Bakka et al. 1995; Kvifte, 1999). The intimate relationship with the dance is often emphasized in rhythm studies of folk music in asymmetrical meter, and it has been suggested that the rhythmical patterns in the music may be conditioned by a particular way of dancing. In accordance with the view that an underlying perceived pulse, that is, an internal beat, often is explicated through body motion, it has been suggested that performers’ body motion should be incorporated in investigations of rhythm structures in music featuring asymmetrical meter (see, e.g., Blom, 1981; Bengtsson, 1987; Kvifte, 2004; Ahlbäck 2003). A. Telespringar In this paper we focus on the rhythmical structures in music and motion of traditional Norwegian folk music from the region of Telemark called telespringar. Springar tunes are considered one of the older types of Norwegian folk music, called bygdedans (regional dance) (Bakka et al., 1995). Springar tunes are normally notated in ¾, however, it is pointed out that while ¾ meter normally refers to measures of even beats, this is not the case with springar. In telespringar a systematic long – medium – short beat duration pattern seems to be a prominent feature (see, e.g., Groven, 1971; Kvifte 1999). Telespringar can be played on several musical instruments, e.g. Jew’s harp, flutes and accordion, but it is commonly played on the Hardanger fiddle. The Hardanger fiddle is slightly smaller than a regular violin, with a shorter neck and a flatter bridge. In addition to the bowed strings, there are four or five sympathetic strings that run under the board (Blom & Kvifte, 1986). Although the style and patterns can differ between fiddlers, foot stamping seems to be an integrated part of telespringar playing, (Kvifte, 1999; Ahlbäck, 2003; Johansson, 2009). In telespringar fiddlers usually stamp their feet on the first and the second beat (Kvifte, 1999). B. Telespringar dancing Telespringar dance is a coupled dance that is usually danced in a ring formation. Most variants of the springer consists of a winding part, where the dancers turn under each others arms wile moving forward or backwards in the line of dance, an unfastened part, where the dancers dance independently along the line of dance, and a couple turning part, where the dancers turn around together (Bakka et al., 1995). The dance patterns in folk dance are often described based on the footwork, which foot is carrying the body weight, and the svikt pattern. The svikt pattern is the vertical movement of the body caused by bending knees and ankles, combined with hinging on the ball of the foot (ibid.). The Norwegian anthropologist and ethnomusicologist 432